Give Me a Taste

When I opened the door, Sienna’s scent filled every fiber of my being, driving my senses wild. I tracked it to my bedroom of all places.

In my bed. Sienna was in ~my~ bed.

I pushed the door open and found her under the sheets, the curves of her body visible underneath the thin fabric, her fiery-red hair draped over my pillow.

My wolf growled hungrily.

~Mate. Mine.~

In the blink of an eye, I was on top of her.

I pulled her up by the shoulders. “Look at me.”

She lifted her head, looking straight at me, and my hands tightened on her shoulders when I saw the tears streaming down her face. “You’re crying.”

She tried to wipe away her tears quickly, looking away again, but I didn’t let her. I put my thumb under her chin and lifted her face back up.

“Talk to me,” I ordered, feeling her sadness radiate into my body.

She sniffed quietly, her voice coming out soft. “I shouldn’t have—”

“You shouldn’t have questioned me,” I said at once, growling, not able to keep my own pain from seeping into my tone.

She hadn’t just questioned my status as alpha, she had questioned my devotion to her. She didn’t believe that she was my everything.

“But more importantly, you shouldn’t have been here by yourself. Crying. Being sad. No more of that.”

As an alpha, I was more in tune with her feelings than she realized.

And as an alpha…

~I should’ve made her feel wanted, desired by her mate.~

Instinctively, I swung my body over her and pulled her into an embrace so we were pressed against each other. I held her tight, never wanting to let go again.

Never wanting her to doubt that this wasn’t exactly where I belonged.

My wolf calmed down now that she was in my arms. I took a deep breath, smelling her hair, her scent, content in the knowledge that she was in my arms, safe and warm and beautiful.

“I’m here,” I said, voice tight. “And I’ll be here.”

She wiggled around so we were facing each other, and she laced her arms around my back, our mouths centimeters apart.

We stared at one another, and her eyes were almost sad when she said softly, “I hate this.”

“You hate…this?” For a brief moment, I was torn from my reverie. But then she quickly smiled and playfully rolled her eyes.

“Not…this. Not you. But yes, this. And yes, you. I’m not this girl! I’ve never been this girl. And now I’m crying, and I’m missing you, and I don’t like that feeling. Of needing you.”

I felt a sense of relief. This was maybe the first time Sienna had put her resistance into words. It was as if I finally understood her, or at least a part of her that had previously eluded me.

My arms tightened around her. “Needing me isn’t the worst thing in the world.”

I needed her. More than she could ever realize. Need wasn’t even a strong enough word to describe it.

“Sure feels like it,” she said, and it felt like a punch to the gut.

But her voice, her eyes… she wasn’t trying to hurt me. She was speaking her mind. She was opening up, which was what I’d wished for all this time.

“Well, I could be offended,” I said, sliding my finger down her nose, which made her quiver slightly. “But as a real man, I’ll just say… that I won’t ever leave my woman alone. Not again. I promise.”

And that, at least, was the truth.

I hoped those were the words that she needed to hear, what she needed in order to move forward, to trust me.

Only time would tell, but for once it felt like we were making progress, like we had finally unlocked part of the mystery that was matehood.

And for now, that was enough.

***

Sienna had fallen asleep in my arms. I fished in my pocket for my phone, careful not to disturb my peaceful mate, and texted Josh, letting him know that I was taking the day off tomorrow.

Sienna needed me, and I needed her.

The pack would just have to fucking deal with it because for one day, I would be the alpha for one person, and one person only.

Josh sent back a ‘thumbs-up’ confirmation. I threw my phone aside and snuggled closer to Sienna, enjoying the lush warmth of her, the smoothness of her hair, the softness of her skin…

My Haze simmered just under the surface, seconds away from bursting to life. But I smothered it, snuffed it out.

There would be no sexual activity tonight. Sienna needed rest and so did I.

So I let my eyes close, pressed my lips to her mark, and let my dreams take me away.

My sleep, however, was not so very dreamy. In the middle of the night, I woke to Sienna softly whimpering, almost crying.

I went rigid. Sienna, who was still in my arms, no longer looked peaceful.

She was shaking, her brow furrowed in distress. But before I could wake her from the nightmare, she whispered, “Emily.”

She kept on chanting that name, each time more urgent than the last.

I held her body to mine, hoping that my heat, my dominance, would calm her and take away the bad dream.

She kept on murmuring, “Emily,” a few more times until she fell back into a deep sleep. Sienna may have returned to a peaceful state, but I lay awake for hours.

I could only think of one thing.

~Who is Emily?~

***

I woke up to my mate looking at me, her face luminous in the soft sunlight of morning.

I stretched out, exhaled, and murmured, “Good morning,” before I pulled her back to me.

“I can’t… breathe…,” she said, laughing and squirming against me.

My cock, already semi-hard as it was most mornings, was now fully erect with her writhing, and the need to put her on her back and ravish her was almost too strong.

So instead, I just held her tighter, savoring the body-to-body contact.

“Aiden!” she shouted playfully, still struggling to break free.

I reluctantly released her and she faced me. “You have to go to work,” she said softly.

There was some lingering shame in her eyes from last night, shame that she needed me as much as she had.

She was trying to show me she wouldn’t be as needy as she was last night, but I wanted her to need me.

I liked seeing her true emotions for once. I liked knowing that what she felt was getting stronger, almost as strong as how I felt.

“No, I don’t,” I said, and with my cock twitching excitedly, I jumped on her, straddling her body, pinning her hands above her head before she could even blink.

“You don’t?” she asked, trying to fight my hold, trying to free herself. But I had her right where I wanted her, and even though her dominant side fought me, I could feel her easing into my grip.

“I took the day off. I told you, I’m not leaving my woman alone,” I said and lowered myself to her neck, running my lips over her mark.

I could feel her Haze lighting up, and mine was already blazing.

~Let’s just let it fucking consume us,~ I thought. ~Swallow us whole.~

“You’ll have to leave at some point,” she murmured, and it took me a moment to remember what we were talking about.

I trailed my fingers down her neck, across her collarbone, and moved them down her arms, all the way to her fingertips.

My brain had shut down. All I could think of was burying myself inside her tight, slick sex until she was completely taken by—

“Aiden…” She trailed off, her eyes closing on a soft sigh.

My lips were at her ear, nibbling on her lobe, having the satisfaction of feeling her squirm underneath me. “Yes?” I growled, my wolf in my voice.

And then she said, “I made apple pie,” and the world stopped.

***

There was one thing in the world that was more important to me than anything else, and it was apple pie.

Okay, maybe that was a bit extreme, but it definitely ranked pretty high up there.

There was nothing like the divine taste of a warm, flaky slice of pie on my tongue, the squishy, juicy apples filling my mouth, the succulent crumbs leaving a sugary sweet aftertaste.

I took my apple pies very seriously.

They were better than almost anything I could think of, better than se—

Well, I wouldn’t go ~that~ far. But they were fucking heavenly, all right?

Especially when they were made with care by your mate.

“This…this is amazing,” I said, floating on cloud nine as I took another slice of the pie Sienna had baked for me.

It was almost enough to make me forget about my Haze, about how sweet my mate would taste in my mouth. ~Almost.~

I devoured the slice and grabbed another one. “Seriously,” I said, mouth full, “how’d you know this was my favorite?”

“Jocelyn told me,” she said.

“You two gossiping about me?” I asked around a mouthful of pie, and smiled at the thought.

“You wish,” she snorted.

It was a provocation, and it burst my apple-pie bubble—in the best way possible. Because my mate was playing with me, pushing me to push her back.

Grinning, I dropped my fork and leaped across the table, tackling her to the ground. She laughed as if her sides were bursting, and it was the best sound I’d heard in my life.

“I wish, do I?” I said. I pinned her hands again behind her and used my free hand to tickle every inch of her body.

“STOP!” she tried to scream, but she was doubling over with laughter. “Or else…”

“Or else what?” I growled, making myself comfortable between her legs. I felt her Haze rising again.

She started moving her hips against me, brushing against my crotch, bringing my cock to life instantly.

And suddenly I couldn’t bear it anymore. I brushed the strap of her tank top off her shoulder and kissed the spot where it had been, craving the taste of her, just like the apple pie she’d made.

~Wanting to take another bite…~

She suddenly broke free from my grasp and flipped us over so she was straddling me. I let my guard down and she took advantage.

“Or else ~this~,” she said, and a moment later, her lips were on mine.

She was kissing me. She was playing with me. She was taking the initiative. And all I wanted was to let her have all the control for now, to show me what she wanted.

Because this wasn’t an act of indifference. This wasn’t me chasing her. No, this was her making a move.

She kissed me gently, briefly, and then moved her lips south.

My hands were on her back, pulling her closer to me as my Haze burst to life. I was aiming to finally get a feel of those magnificent tits when she took my hands and pinned them over my head.

I looked at her through foggy eyes, seeing her flushed cheeks, her arousal.

“You know,” I murmured, my voice thick with lust, “if you’re really my woman, and I’m really your man, then you have to mark me too.”

That was a challenge. Not just anyone would have the confidence to mark an alpha. But as usual, Sienna wasn’t just anyone.

The next second, she was on my neck, and her teeth sank into my skin.

I closed my eyes at the sheer bliss of it. For the first time, I was being marked. A woman wanted me enough to mark me. Cared for me enough to claim me.

I felt taken. I felt complete. I felt like the luckiest fucking man alive.

The lonely darkness that I had buried deep down was giving way to a new light. I was suddenly basking under the brightness of my mate’s pure act of affection, the choice she had just made.

~She chose me.~

I never wanted this moment to end.

When she was done, she looked down at the mark, and the pride I could see in her beautiful blue eyes was enough to make my heart race.

The need to claim her was almost unbearable. But I didn’t dare make a move for fear of breaking that perfect moment.

She lowered herself farther down, letting her hands trail over my naked chest, kissing down my abs. Her lips were on a mission.

I tightened my stomach, realizing what she was going to do.

“Sienna,” I said with an urgency that served as both an invitation and a warning.

She was at the waistband of my sweatpants when she looked up, her eyes glazed, the Haze thickening the air between us, charging it with the undercurrents of our desire.

“I want to do this,” she said breathily. “For you.”

I simply stared at her, feeling the happiest I’d ever felt in my life. Because her resistance, her apprehension, it was finally fading away.

She wasn’t tamping down her desire for me anymore; she was dousing us both in gasoline and lighting the match herself.

And I was ready to let her burn me to the fucking ground.